


How They Knew

by ErrantPelican



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Friendship, M/M, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-24 22:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3786196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErrantPelican/pseuds/ErrantPelican
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The various members of SEES all notice how Akihiko and Shinjiro's relationship may go a bit beyond friendship. It just takes some longer than others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ken

**Author's Note:**

> I've been meaning to move this over from my fanfiction account for ages, but just never got around to it until now. The idea behind this fic was essentially when each SEES member realized that Akihiko and Shinjiro might feel something a bit more than friendship for each other and what led to those discoveries and their reactions afterwards. Each chapter will be in the viewpoint of a different SEES member. There are a couple onesided pairings in later chapters that I'll mention in the comments before those chapters specifically.
> 
> The chapters are in reverse-chronological order (the first chapter is the one that happened most recently and the last chapter was the earliest timewise). 
> 
> I did take some liberties with headcanons, particularly with post-game events (which will be noticeable in this chapter especially), and this was written before I had played either Arena game, Persona Q, P3P, nor had any of the P3 movies come out. This is based solely on my interpretation of the characters in P3:FES.

It was years before Ken even considered what it was that made Akihiko so set on solitude. Sure, he had Ken and everybody who worked with him, and he even had Koromaru. Junpei visited often, and sometimes he even brought Fuuka along, who always insisted on cooking them all dinner. Thankfully, her cooking skills had improved since her high school years. Mitsuru called at least once a week, and visited once a year, whenever her career gave her the chance to return—however briefly—to Iwatodai.

Ken knew that it was his own doing, Akihiko living in Iwatodai. If it had been up to the man, he'd be traveling the world right now, refusing to think of the city of his childhood and all of the memories haunting it, but Ken had needed guidance and Akihiko had needed somewhere to call home, so they had both been drawn back to the place where it all began. After all, Ken still needed to make it through high school before Akihiko would so much as _think_ about letting him travel the world.

The younger boy had always assumed Akihiko avoiding the dating scene had been a choice made for Ken's own benefit. It would be harder to focus on his studies if his guardian was dragging random women into the house at all hours of the night, and even with a steady relationship, Ken would most likely then be expected to interact with the woman, and that would take away from his schoolwork as well. It took time before Ken fully realized how narrow this view of the world was and forced himself to look around.

Akihiko's decorating style was much to be desired, with any sort of "unnecessary" furniture—like paintings or decorative candles or flowers—virtually nonexistent. Not one portrait hung in the house. Not even Ken's school pictures. Not even the picture Akihiko had taken of himself with Mitsuru on the day of their graduation. Not even the group picture of all but one of the old members of SEES.

There was one picture that Akihiko kept standing safely on the table beside his bed. Though the door to his room was normally closed, the very few times it had been cracked, Ken had peered in out of curiosity and seen it, clear as day: A photo of Akihiko with Shinjiro, most likely taken before they had met Mitsuru, before they had formed SEES. The two of them looked happier than Ken had ever witnessed, arms thrown over each other's shoulders and grins stretching across their faces.

Even when he had seen the two of them smile in person, it had never looked quite like that. Shinjiro's rare smiles were small and never reached his eyes, and while Akihiko's were kinder, they were certainly not happier. The picture though seemed to have been snapped in a moment of ignorance between the two boys. For all Ken could tell, neither had any knowledge of the photographer until the flash had already gone off, and the image saved forever on a tiny square of film. Ken could tell by the look in their eyes that those smiles were meant for nobody but the one sitting beside them.

In all the time he had been staying with Akihiko, Ken had been shouted at only once. It happened to be the moment he walked into Akihiko's room with a question only to be greeted by the sight of his guardian sitting, silent tears running down his face, with that picture cradled in his lap.

And that was how Ken knew.


	2. Aigis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hints of onesided Aigis/Minato in this chapter, but it's not really implied any more than it is in the game.

Feelings were a mystery to Aigis, but friendship and love in particular were, thankfully, revealed eventually in the form of Minato, opening her up to a whole new level of observation she had never reached before. When she finally noticed what it was that she wanted from Minato, what it was she felt and yearned for, she searched her past for clues of this feeling in others.

It was easy to see in Junpei during his time knowing Chidori. Yukari seemed to feel similar things for the entirety of SEES, while Mitsuru felt the same in a much more subdued fashion. Fuuka and Minato were tougher, seemingly closed in on themselves in many ways. Minato especially scared her, since he showed no sign of caring for anybody, at least within SEES. She vowed to collect more data on his treatment of his other classmates in the future.

Akihiko and Shinjiro showed up many times in her databanks, almost always together for the entire month that Shinjiro had joined them. There was never a moment to pinpoint, but observing the two of them and feeling a faint tugging sensation in the center of her chest, Aigis was aware that she wished she and Minato could look like the two of them.

While they were closed off to nearly every other SEES member, Shinjiro and Akihiko were nothing but open to each other.

And that was how Aigis knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I took a lot of liberties with Aigis' character on this, so I apologize if she seems really ooc. I really love Aigis, but she was such a hard character for me to nail down for some reason, and I almost completely rebooted this chapter to something not even close to what it is to try to fix that, but just never actually did so.


	3. Junpei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of Junpei/Chidori in this chapter.

To be completely honest, Junpei probably could've lived without the discovery. It wasn't like it made him think any differently of either of his senpai, but the shock was enough to throw him even further out of commission after an already very rough day following Chidori's sacrifice.

He was even a bit surprised he was able to figure it out, given the circumstances. He was trapped in an endless slideshow of Takaya's shot, Junpei's death, Chidori's love, Chidori's death, over and over and over until he was sure he would soon drown in his own despair.

Mitsuru came to him first, but she was barred from the room soon after. Though she had felt the deep sorrow of untimely death, her communication skills had not improved in the slightest, and the only result of her visit had been a shout and the slam of the door behind her. At least now she knew that telling someone to just "get over it and come back to help the group" was not the right choice.

Yukari and Minato were next, visiting together. They were better, but Junpei believed it would've been more helpful had Minato come by himself. After all the insults Yukari had shot at him in the past with no regards at all for his feelings, it was difficult for him to let her in. They were soon sent out as well and replaced by sweet little Fuuka. She couldn't understand his sorrow in the least, but her silent presence and loving hug was enough to show Junpei that she cared.

Akihiko was the next and final visitor before Mitsuru put up the order that Junpei was to be left alone until he felt ready to approach them all. He came at midnight, during the Dark Hour itself, on a day when all the others were, presumably, fast asleep. The older male didn't say a word as he tiptoed in, sitting on the edge of Junpei's bed and simply _existing_ until Junpei could not handle the suspense any longer.

"Senpai?"

"I know how you feel," was his only answer.

"... You came in here to say that? That you _know how I feel?"_ No one else had had the gall, the utter _nerve_...

"I'm sorry, please let me explain." And it was then that Akihiko leaned forward just enough for the slat in Junpei's curtains to direct the light of the moon directly onto Akihiko's face. It was then that this light revealed the streaks of liquid leaking from his light brown eyes, and the slight flush that often accompanied tears.

"You … Senpai …"

"...I know how you feel, Junpei," Akihiko repeated, this time in a stronger voice, though Junpei could hear the tremors now. He could feel the emotions rolling off of his elder, begging for Junpei to understand without him having to speak.

"You know how I feel."

Though they'd never discuss it afterward, the time they spent crying together and just holding each other during the Dark Hour that night would be more help to Junpei than anything the others did for him.

Akihiko knew how he felt.

While Junpei had lost Chidori, Akihiko had lost Shinjiro.

And that was how Junpei knew.


	4. Fuuka

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took some liberties as far as headcanons on how exactly Fuuka's persona abilities work. I don't think anything directly contradicts canon, but if there's a major discrepancy, just let me know in a comment, and I'll do my best to fix it.

Fuuka didn't have to do any sneaky detective work. Honestly, she didn't really have to think much about it at all.

It had been nothing but a blessing when she had been accepted into SEES, no questions asked. For the first time in her life, she had _friends._ She had people who supported and cared for her, people who let her do as she pleased simply because it made her happy, people who protected her and trusted her to protect them in return.

Lucia allowed her to see the feelings of her companions. She would never tell them this, since she knew deep down that it was an unforgivable invasion of privacy, but it wasn't her fault that when she was using Lucia, she could not control what she saw of the humans nearby. Mitsuru's mind was always a whirlwind of lists, random facts and numbers that Fuuka couldn't hope to understand without years of study. Minato, Junpei, and Yukari were a swirl of stress from school, with a few added feelings of annoyance, fear, and anger. Koromaru was bubbling with happiness whenever he was spending time with fellow SEES members, while dreadfully sad and lonely when no one was paying attention to him. Aigis, while definitely having her own feelings, didn't seem to feel quite so deeply as Fuuka's "living" friends, and Ken was full of a lot more dark thoughts than Fuuka thought was healthy for such a young boy.

Akihiko though … Akihiko was, by far, the hardest human for Fuuka to read, and for the sake of curiosity, this made him the one on which she tried the hardest to do so. She could still feel his thoughts. In fact, she could practically _taste_ them they were so close, but it was as if the older boy had put up a physical wall around his mind, protecting everything inside from the dangers of the world. Or was it that he was protecting the world from everything kept inside?

For months, Fuuka tried to read her senpai. She could feel the rumors about him, the opinions and the judgment from several other SEES members, but when it came to Akihiko's brain itself, only a heavy buzz escaped.

All this changed when Shinjiro first joined them.

There was still a wall around Akihiko's thoughts, but rather than it giving off the impression of a buzz, it was a soft hum. A _warm_ hum, that filled Fuuka with a light happiness whenever Lucia picked up on it. Shinjiro, on the other hand, was a different story.

She had been asked from the beginning by Akihiko himself to keep an eye on Shinjiro when she could, making sure that he wasn't getting into trouble with shadows off in his alley. At the distance they were, she could only get a faint inkling of the feelings swirling through his mind, but what she could pick up on was dark and troubled, yanking down on her heart and mind until she was forced to pull away and focus on Akihiko for awhile, letting the monotone buzz numb her senses.

She had been expecting this on a much larger scale when Shinjiro joined the group. In fact, she had been terrified that she would be unable to use Lucia at all because of the strength of his negativity, so her surprise was immense when she summoned Lucia to feel a wave of calm serenity wash over her being, slow and sweet enough to nearly put her to sleep with the first wave. Pinpointing the source was easy, and she almost fell over with the shock of it being Shinjiro.

Shinjiro, who had seemed reluctant at first to return, but now that he had done so, also seemed to have no intention of leaving. Shinjiro, who had barely been able to step away from Akihiko for a moment since he had arrived. Shinjiro, who was, at that very moment, looking at Akihiko so strangely that Fuuka was horribly unsure on whether or not she was overstepping with her interpretation.

The combination of both Akihiko and Shinjiro's utter change in demeanor though sealed her theory as almost certainly correct. She just wished that she were brave enough to ask Mitsuru or Minato their opinions on the matter.

And that was how Fuuka knew.


	5. Yukari

There was no undeniable proof available for Yukari, but she had always been able to rely on her intuition before, so why should this circumstance be any different? All she had to go on was a feeling and a nickname, but from the exasperated look Minato shot her when she asked his opinion, she was pretty damn sure she was onto something.

When she looked back on it, it was a stupid choice to go to the alley in the first place. For once, Junpei had been smarter than her, though she'd still never admit it to anyone but herself. The three of them had been no match for those punks they encountered, and she still felt bad she had gotten Junpei injured with her own carelessness, but at least some good had come out of it. They knew that ghosts were not the cause of the mysterious disappearances, and she knew why Akihiko liked to stick to himself.

She had wondered about the boy in the trench coat as early as her visit to Akihiko in the hospital. After all, what sort of roughneck stranger went around giving her senpai strange nicknames out of the blue?

But it was in the back alley, when the stranger—Shinjiro—rescued them, and the first thing his mind jumped to was how they were "Aki's" friends, asking if "Aki" sent them that Yukari started looking deeper. She heard the inflection when speaking the word "Aki," how his guilty eyes softened at the thought of the silver-haired boxer. She didn't mention it then, and the only one she asked later was Minato. Seeing his reaction, she knew it would not be wise to ever bring it up again.

She truly hoped that Akihiko knew of—if he didn't _share_ —Shinjiro's feelings.

And that was how Yukari knew.


	6. Minato

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains (questionably) one-sided Minato/Akihiko.

He probably would've seen it sooner if he hadn't been so set on having Akihiko for himself. For weeks, Minato couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of the older boxer, and he could've sworn that Akihiko returned the majority of his sultry glances, though usually while looking confused and covered with a bright red blush.

In hindsight, it was probably unfair of Minato to assume that the blush meant his senpai was interested. Certainly it could've meant discomfort, and really, that option was plenty more likely than any sort of arousal. At the time of Minato's rejection though, he was still high off the feeling that there were so many people who liked him already: Kenji, Hidetoshi, Bebe … He could've sworn that even _Yukari_ had given him a few side-eyed looks of interest. How could Akihiko—the one person whose eye Minato was _trying_ to catch—resist his advances?

Akihiko did so with a shove to the chest and a punch to the jaw, though thankfully not with the bulk of his strength or Minato may have been dealing with a concussion in addition to a bruise.

"Why did you kiss me, Minato?" And Minato never thought that such a calm whisper would terrify him more than a shriek of hatred.

"You like me, right? You blush every time I look at you, so I figured I'd give you what you want and kiss you," Minato deadpanned. After all, Akihiko had proven with this reaction that he had no talent with decoding subtle hints.

The boxer deflated at this statement, slumping against the wall he had been, just moments earlier, pushed up against.

"If I misinterpreted your sexuality, I apologize profusely. I had no intention of making you uncomfortable, and I will not come onto you again."

"It's not … Minato …" Minato merely nodded, turning on his heel to let himself out of Akihiko's bedroom.

"You weren't wrong." Minato paused at this, but did not turn to face the speaker. "You _aren't_ wrong, but I can't. It would be a betrayal, and even if he's not here, I can't give up on him." A choked sob. Minato hadn't realized how truly difficult this would be for his senpai.

Making no indication that he had heard Akihiko's confession, Minato continued to the door, shutting it behind him with a distinct air of finality.

And that was how Minato knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason why I say this is "questionably" one-sided, is because I realized while editing that Akihiko's comments definitely come across as him rejecting Minato despite returning the feelings. That wasn't really my intention in writing his dialogue, but I still think the confusing wording there definitely fits with how Akihiko would approach the entire situation, so I left it rather than trying to rework to make it less suggestive toward that end. So I can definitely see how it could be interpreted that Minato's feelings are returned, at least in part.


	7. Mitsuru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of Akihiko/Mitsuru in this chapter.

It took her awhile before she noticed, but once she saw—really saw—the way Aragaki and Sanada looked at each other, Mitsuru had to refrain from slapping herself with the shame of her previous lack of observational skill. The thoughts of both boys were in every look, every movement, every word.

Looking back, Mitsuru wondered if she hadn't always known, albeit subconsciously. After all, despite her initial attraction to Sanada, she had turned him down without a second thought when he had approached her two months after living in the dorms, wringing his trembling hands and barely coherent enough to spit out his request.

It had been obvious then that he wasn't asking her out because he liked her, rather because he wished to prove something to someone. What or who this was was, at the time, a complete mystery to Mitsuru. It was likely, all things considered, that it had been unknown to Sanada as well.

When Aragaki made his mistake and paid for it with the life of the Amada woman, Sanada was the one who broke down. Leaving SEES was barely a decision for Aragaki, but for Sanada …

For weeks, Mitsuru barely saw him, assuming he was spending every spare moment he had hunting down his childhood friend and begging for his return. It wasn't until three months later that Sanada returned to the dorm sporting a black eye, a limp, and a set to his jaw that had Mitsuru shuddering with apprehension. One more week was spent with Sanada sulking in his dorm room before he approached Mitsuru, requesting to chase the shadows again, this time with a new vigor.

He never spoke while he fought, but the fire in his eyes, the power in his punches, screamed for Aragaki.

And that was how Mitsuru knew.


	8. Akihiko

Akihiko had always been fine with how gloomy Shinji was. He had been gloomy ever since they had first met, and the cloud of negativity that followed him like a shadow only seemed to grow along with Shinji himself. By the time they were readying to enter high school, Akihiko himself was about the only thing left that could bring a smile to Shinji's face.

Shinji wasn't good at making friends. Girls didn't flock to him like they did Akihiko, and boys didn't approach him to ask for help with their studies or athletics. Despite the crowd always vying for Akihiko's attention though, he wanted it from no one but Shinji.

Ignoring the strange desperation of his peers to become close to him, Akihiko instead worked to close himself off, stay close to Shinji, keep Shinji happy and make him feel wanted. None of the people who wanted Akihiko around allowed him to bring Shinji, so Akihiko refused to so much as give them the time of day. They were happy though, the two of them. As happy as they could ever be, in any case. Shinji would cook for Akihiko every evening while Akihiko helped Shinji study every night.

It wasn't until Akihiko realized that he only ever felt truly fulfilled when he saw Shinji smile that there might be something a bit … _different_ about their friendship.

And that was how Akihiko knew.


	9. Shinjiro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many, many liberties taken here with Aki and Shinji's life in the orphanage, since I will readily admit I don't know much about that other than the very big events (such as Akihiko having a sister, them being in the orphanage in the first place, etc.) since I haven't played P3P, so I'm very sorry if anything is directly contradicting canon. Of course I did research their backgrounds and such, but there always seem to be things that just never come up unless you've played the game yourself, haha.

Shinjiro had avoided people as long as he could remember. His parents had left him, so why would anyone else bother to stay? The only two people in the world who were meant to love him unconditionally had stuck him in an orphanage before he had even learned to crawl. Even as he grew, the other children avoided him like the plague, his anger and pain engulfing those around him and pulling them under until they simply couldn't take it anymore and ran, with tear-filled eyes, to seek comfort in their friends.

Shinjiro told himself he didn't care. He never spoke to the other children and they never spoke to him. It was fair, and that was that. In fact, he was quite sure that unless one of the adults working at the orphanage had spoken his name aloud, none of the other children would even know who he was. He was the bully, the monster, the one to stay away from because he could steal your soul right out of your body. At least, that was one of the many rumors the older kids used to tease their younger friends.

It wasn't until Aki came, tailed by little Miki, that Shinjiro truly began to wish that he wasn't so much of an outcast. Everyone loved Aki from the beginning. Though he was shy and awkward, the love he shared with his sister was enviable by all those lonely kids, and they were all eager to bask in a true familial relationship.

Shinjiro saw Aki looking at him, as he sat on the single swing in the yard of the orphanage, swaying weakly back and forth. He saw the movements of Aki's mouth as he didn't break eye contact, knew that the new boy was asking the others about him. Despite Aki's polite whisper, the answer was shouted loud and clear, and Shinjiro knew it was meant to shame him along with ensure his continued loneliness.

"We don't know who he is. No one ever talks to him, since he's so weird!"

Years ago, this would've affected Shinjiro enough to bring pinpricks of tears to his eyes, but it had been so long since he had spoken to another of his own free will that he knew he deserved those words. His only reaction was to dig his feet into the dirt to stop the swaying of the swing and direct his eyes down, allowing them to follow the path of a beetle over a fallen leaf.

It was a shock when, just moments later, a pair of tattered sneakers stepped in front of the leaf and very much into Shinjiro's line of sight, causing him to look up before he had even made the conscious decision to do so.

"What are you doing over here?" Shinjiro spat when he saw the nervous brown eyes of the new boy and his shadow of a sister, clutching the back of his shirt and peeking around his side.

"M'name's Akihiko. Wanna be friends?" The boy looked worried. _Scared_ even. After all, all the other kids had just done nothing but declare Shinjiro the freak of the orphanage.

But Aki was able to look at him and smile, even when all he knew were the rumors and the stories and the opinions.

And that was how Shinjiro knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that! Hopefully everyone who's managed to read this far has enjoyed it, but whether you have or not, I'd love it if you reviewed to tell me what you thought! I really love this couple, and I hope to write more of them after replaying P3:FES. :) They need more love!
> 
> Again, apologies that so much of this introspective little story was based in headcanon and interpretation, but I tried to stick to the canon as much as possible, so if you do see anything that is particularly contradictory, I'd love to know so I can try to fix it! (Can't promise I will fix it, depending on what the contradiction is, but I would still like to be aware of it.)
> 
> Again, thanks for reading and hope you liked it! ^^


End file.
